Still There

It's taking a little longer than the expected 24 hours for New Baby's numbers to go down.

It was 18, then dropped to 14, but then went up to 15. Going up means she required an extra six hours.

Hopefully, if the number goes back down, she will come home from the hospital with a special blanket for jaundice.

Baby Boy has been staying with us.

We took him out for dinner and a ride on the carousal. That's him whizzing by in the red striped shirt.

He is a very good little boy.

It's amazing to me how the contents of one's purse changes over the course of life...

Still Waiting...

For Santa Claus to come 'down the chimney', so to speak.

Update: I quite possibly should have combined this post and the previous one. Maybe the tea should be given to Baby Boy to aide santa on his journey.

So Far, So Good

I am stressed beyond measure about moving. THGGM keeps assuring me that all will be well.

I'm not convinced.

No major fights, though.

The previous owners, although they have been in their new place for over two weeks now, have not given us the keys.

This has THGGM frustrated. They are having a garage sale there today, tomorrow and Saturday. THEN they have someone coming to pick up what doesn't sell. THGGM assured her that we would not need the garage, just want to get in to do some painting. No, she said, because she hasn't vacuumed yet.

Oh, well. I'm not ready to move yet.

When we began packing, our goal was to finish one room COMPLETELY before we (I) moved on the the next.

So much for the best laid plans.

Not one room is totally emptied out. No, not one, no, not one.

While packing up an old dresser upstairs, I found a Christmas letter I had written in 1998. That is the year we moved here.

NINE YEARS AGO? And to think that it was just this January that THGGM looked at me and said, "I think we finally have this place how we want it!"

Anyway...

Today my mom and Baby Boy come to play. I hope I don't get confused and attempt to pack them into a box.

OH! And Baby Boy has learned to say "Excuse Me!" Instead of what he had been doing, which was pushing against whomever was in his way while uttering a sound something like "UGGGGH!". Although, his 'excuse me' sounds a bit like "Sue Me!".

(i'm tired.)

Show and Tell

The crayons aren't packed yet. And, I haven't found a box big enough for the BIG paper.

This means that today, we color-colored on the BIG paper.

Baby Boy is still only interested in having me draw balls. I draw them, he colors over the top of them.

But I was able to interest him in other things that start with the letter "B".

Here, he is showing you a letter "B", a bee, a button, a boy, a binky, a beach ball and ME, Beppe!

Pake and Baby Boy

Huh.

THGGM pointed out to me an error in a magazine he recently purchased.

This is what he found:

"Here's a trick of the trade - Revive almost any piece of furniture in any condition with a coat of vanish."

Wow! Now why didn't I think of that?

I would happily coat all of my furniture in 'vanish' if I could coat it in 'reappear' once it shows up at the new house.

Certainly they must have meant vaRnish. They could not have meant the toilet cleaner 'Vanish', could they?

In other news -

THGGM has kindly asked that I not hum, whistler, nor sing my annoying 'earworm' songs outloud.

Apparently, 'earworms' are catchy and he has caught a severe case of Signing Time's "Silly Pizza" song.

In closing, I must tell you the latest "Bad Beppe" story.

In the mail yesterday there arrived one of those promotionals for a 'Christmas' idea book. You know the kind. Large pull-out decorating and cooking ideas and even recipe cards.

There was also a sheet of little yellow smily faces wearing Santa hats.

To include Baby Boy in my excitement over all things glossy, I put a santa sticker on the back of his chubby little hand.

This gave me time to peruse the glossy pictures of homes not decorated in stacks of card board boxes.

I heard Baby Boy say "Nummy".

I looked at his hand, and the santa sticker was gone.

I pinched his cute little nose and there on his tongue sat santa, whom I quickly snatched away.

While I lectured him on the dangers of sticker swallowing, all while wagging said sticker in front of his adorable face, he snatched it back and in one quick move I watched it slide down his throat.

"Nummy," he had the gall to say.

Of course, I HAD to tell his mommy, as this sticker was also glossy and I am sure totally unable to be digested.

Someday soon, santa will present an encore.

I wonder if he will still be smiling?

Two Down, Us to Go

Today, Daughter, Son-in-law and Baby Boy moved into their new home.

I LOVE it. It will be perfect for them.

It has FIVE bedrooms. FIVE.

A four stall garage. FOUR.

Three bathrooms. THREE.

And two tired parents. TWO.

One move to go. ONE.

Ours.

Nap Time

Baby Boy spent the day with me today.

We went to Meijer Gardens (see below).

We watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Signing Time.

I became ill (whenever i am in the sun, i get sick.) and the poor kid spent over a half hour trapped in a tiny bathroom with me. Funny what one can find with which to entertain a small child (i'm not telling what).

After THGGM came home from loading up the moving truck he took Baby Boy to The Mall (what IS the name of that mall???) to ride the horse on the carousal. He LOVED it! Baby Boy did, too.

Now I am on my way to strike the same pose as Baby Boy.

Tomorrow he moves into his 'new' house.

Vacation Day

THGGM finished with his jury duties Thursday evening. He enjoyed the experience very much. It was an interesting case.

That meant he could use his vacation day he had planned for today.

So, we met Daughter and Baby Boy for breakfast.

Daughter left for work, and we took Baby Boy to the Meijer Gardens

Baby Boy was ready with his really cool sunglasses!

Baby Boy was all go, Go, GO!

The stroller became something for his aged grandparents to lean on after following him around.

He really likes the horse! Here he is running to the smaller model of the horse that he can touch.

In the Children's Garden Baby Boy LOVED playing in the Great Lakes water feature.

Superior was a little high for him, but Erie was perfect.

We could not have had better weather.

Tomorrow, Baby Boy and his family move into their new house!

A month from today, New Baby is scheduled to arrive.

In ONE month.

Oh, my...

I'm still using Daughter's laptop, which only has an extremely complicated photo altering program. So today I give you, uncropped, "Pake (frisian for grandpa) and Baby Boy Blowing Bubbles". I would not mention that it is THGGM in the pictures, except that I would not want anyone thinking that I do not shave my legs.

Today, Baby Boy will be coming to play with Great Grandma and me while his mommy goes to the doctor AND attends the closing on their 'new' house.

Finally. It is finally the day.

Oh, and can I add this here?

I have a new favorite TV show. Besides Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Signing Time and The Office, I've added a NEW show to my personal 'must see tv'. Do you get Animal Planet? In the morning they have a fabulous show called "Sunrise Earth". Am I the last person on Earth to know about this? Today I am watching horses in the state of Wyoming. I've also seen harbor seals wake up and make their way into the ocean off the coast of California. It is fascinating stuff.

Happy Monday!

Baby Boy was a delight today! We did all sorts of really fun things. I haven't taken many pictures of him lately, because when he wasn't feeling well he HATED it. Today, he ASKED me to take his picture. Since I wanted a nice one of him at a year and a half, I was thrilled.

So, I sat him down on the couch and told him to say 'Cheese!'. He gave me this confused look and SIGNED cheese. Not quite the same effect.

Oh well. I like the look on his face!

Tomorrow he goes to the doctor and will get four shots.

Oh, and SIX WEEKS from today, New Baby is scheduled to make her arrival!

Great Thursday

My mom came today. While Baby Boy slept we looked through magazines.

In one, we found a cute apron which my mom admired. It had a price tag of $44.95.

Since I am in the middle of packing, I have all of my aprons folded and in a pile in the dining room. I happened to have two similar to the one in the magazine. Mine were 'trash picks'.

When Baby Boy woke up, he took an interest in my aprons. Here he is modeling one that I purchased at an antique store. It reminds me of the one my grandma always had hanging on a hook over the door in her dining room.

Baby Boy seemed to think it was some sort of super-hero outfit.

A Baby Boy Story

I must share with you a "Baby Boy" story.

Baby Boy has become very proficient using sign language.

He also says quite a few words.

Generally, he uses a combination of both.

Recently, someone offered something to him, and made the reasonable request that he say "please".

He energetically rubbed his tummy, meaning please.

Not good enough.

"Use your mouth", he was told.

So Baby Boy obediently licked his hand and rubbed his tummy!

A Backyard Picnic

We chose the table with the view of the birds.

The lovely yellow wildflowers on the table were weeds freshly yanked from my hosta beds.

The only trouble was, the wind kept blowing the table cloth over Baby Boy's plate.

I had a hard time convincing him that I do not control the wind.

Thursday I asked my mom how it was that she managed to prepare so many picnics for us when I was a kid. She said it was A LOT of work, but everyone seemed to like it, and it didn't cost much.

If I had to go further than out my backdoor, I'm not sure if I would do it.

Cheap Fun

Memories of my own children's toddlerhood come back to me.

Doing things in the right order makes for an easier time.

We started with a picnic lunch. Peanut butter sandwiches, apples and cheese!

For dessert we had an ice cream sandwich.

Then, we blew bubbles.

After that came water-play time!

Clean up was a breeze!

I've many many many pictures of this wonderful warm summer day, but I haven't yet figured out the quick downloads on dial-up.

Like I always say, 'a picture is worth the fifteen minutes it takes to download it'! Yeah, I always say that. Now.

Mr. Bubble

Blowing bubbles was about all Baby Boy wanted to do outside today.

THGGM mowed down my dandelion meadow, which I thought Baby Boy would approve of.

I think he doesn't like getting dirt inside of his sandals.

This was the face I saw the most of today.

Although, Daughter and I brought him up into the closet today to see the baby birds for the first time. That made him very excited!

For the rest of the day, he signed 'baby' and 'bird' and pointed up the stairs.

For the next two and a half months we will be talking about babies, I do believe.

Today, I made a bed for his 'action baby' Jack. Once he realized it was a bed, he kissed Jack and ran to get a blanket to cover him.

Then, he had a change of heart, threw Jack out, and tried to get into the bed himself.

Welcome to Judy's Home for the Young, the Old and the Infirm

Daughter most graciously drove her grandpa to his eye appointment today. Great grandma came to my house to help with Baby Boy. She was in great form, although I'm sure her back will hurt tonight. She cannot resist those outstretched arms of his. He does look extra appealing with a boo-boo on his nose.

Anyway...they left for the appointment at 10:00 and did not arrive back home until after 1:30. My dad will be needing cornea transplants. His doctor has been keeping a close eye on this over the past decade, and the time has come when it needs to be done. Not the news we wanted.

Yet, in my little world, there is GREAT NEWS! Oldest Son and Daughter-in-law will be moving back to this area! Daughter-in-law will be doing her doctorate work at Western Michigan University. We are ALL incredibly proud of her.

My Thursday People

Sweet Sixteen Months Today

Wow. Where did the time go?

Baby Boy looks more and more like his daddy every day.

Today he was still suffering from teething pain and wanted me to hold him all day.

But, he did not want to sleep.

I did.

I had big plans for today. I actually have big plans for EVERY day, but aroud 3:00 my plans fizzle and die.

Tonight I managed to tea-dye an old hanky. I'm really good at staining things, I thought I might as well turn it into a hobby.

My Monday

Baby Boy and I had an enjoyable afternoon.

I felt compelled to call him Boris.

This mink hat has proven to be one of my best purchases.

It made Boris look adorable.

My 'friend' from past posts used it to play "Queen Daphne" and point her cane at sweet faced dollies and pronounce them "Disgusting!".

And the words ' daphne mink' brought a lot of traffic to my blog!

But, sadly, this is what I saw most of the day.

Someone has two extremely sore spots in his mouth where teeth are struggling to come through.

Don't think I didn't have thoughts of getting a file and scrapping away at his poor gums.

I saw this look and this position most of the day. And, he came early.

I sure hope those teeth pop through during the night tonight.

He does love bubble blowing.

He spilled these bubbles, which means - if you remember bubble blowing days - that we were both extremely slippery.

In his saddened condition, he did NOT enjoy the dandelion picnic this morning. And it was SUCH a beautiful morning! So, when an airplane flew overhead our morning outside in the nice warm sunshine came to a screeching - and I DO mean screeching - halt.

Then, in the late afternoon when I had to hurry out to bring in all of our equipment from this morning, he suddenly wanted to dance around in the sprinkles. Wearing only a diaper, and the mink hat. So charming.

I did manage to put together this little frame. It represents the only VISIBLE thing I accomplished today.

It was one of those 'make your own frames'. I had planned to paint it green, but got the idea while making a fresh pot of coffee to just stamp on it with the old coffee filter! I like it.